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The little girl, from Norwich, suffered serious injuries, and died hours later in hospital.

Both self-employed fairground employees were jointly accused of gross negligence manslaughter and failing to reduce the risks of the inflatable blowing away.

On August 16, 2017, the pair denied causing the death and the case was sent to trial.

The Thurstons admitted they considered taking down the bouncy castle a quarter of an hour before it blew away.

A jury of seven women and five men found the fairground workers guilty on all counts following a three-week trial.

The scene where Summer Grant was swept away

Summer's father described her as "the most happy, polite and beautiful girl in the world".

In a statement read out this morning (June 15) at the sentencing at Chelmsford Crown Court, Summer's mother, Cara Blackie, said: "I was home watching a film when my phone rang. It was Tasha Stephens and she was crying and not making much sense. I could not make sense what was going on.

"My heart sank. I just wanted to be there for my little girl.

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The tragic death of Summer Grant

"We called a taxi to take us to Harlow. All sorts of things were going through my head but not that my daughter would die. After being in the taxi for 15 minutes a nurse called and told me Summer had died. I screamed."

The statement was finished by Tracy Ayling, prosecuting.

Handing down the jail sentence, Justice Neil Garnham said: "This was not simple negligence. This was gross negligence.

"Your breaches of duty were not just serious mistakes. Your conduct was so bad that in the jury’s view, it must be regarded as criminal.

"At the heart was your failure to have any sensible regard for the weather. High winds had been predicted for days. You knew that or should have known that.

"You were putting your customers, and by customers I mean children like Summer and Lily, at real risk of harm.

"First you failed to ensure the dome was adequately anchored to the ground and second, you failed to monitor the weather conditions to ensure they were suitable.

"These failures were the result of an entirely inadequate system in which you operated.”

He noted that the couple did not intend to kill Summer Grant.

"It is only good fortune that Lily was not inside the bouncy castle at the time of the incident," he continued.

"I have watch you give evidence. I have read your letters. I have no doubt that you are both racked with remorse."